NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
1. Stranded in Mexico: Hundreds of travelers from Minnesota were stuck in Mexico after a storm at homed forced Sun Country Airlines to cancel the last flights of its seasonal service. Travelers were stranded in Los Cabos and Mazatlan. Sun Country said the passengers will receive a refund for the return portion of their flight. Airline spokeswoman Kelsey Dodson-Smith said the airline couldn’t send other planes to collect the passengers because it would mean canceling other flights to other destinations.
2. Brazil protest: Members of a homeless movement briefly occupied the beachfront apartment that sits at the center of the corruption case against former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Judges ruled the apartment in the city of Guaruja was promised to da Silva as a kickback from a construction company. He is appealing the conviction and 12-year sentence. Homeless movement organizer Guilherme Boulos said Monday that da Silva’s arrest is a judicial farce.
3. Turkey crackdown: Supporters of Turkey’s main opposition party staged sit-in demonstrations Monday across the country to protest the state of emergency that was declared after a coup attempt in 2016. The demonstrations were organized as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government prepares this week to extend the state of emergency for a seventh time. The opposition Republican People’s Party accuses the government of misusing its emergency powers to bypass parliament, erode democracy and punish government critics.
4. Montenegro vote: Ruling party leader Milo Djukanovic won an outright victory in the country’s presidential election, avoiding a runoff, according to official results released Monday. Djukanovic won 54 percent of the ballots while his main opponent, Mladen Bojanic, had 33 percent, election authorities said. Sunday’s vote, the first since Montenegro joined the NATO military alliance in December, was seen as a test for Djukanovic, who favors European integration over closer ties to traditional ally Moscow.
5. Korea tantrum: Korean Air Lines said Monday it has suspended one of its chairman’s daughters from her marketing work after she threw a tantrum at a business meeting, triggering public outrage and a police investigation. Cho Hyun-min, also known as Emily Cho, is the younger sister of another Korean Air executive whose onboard “nut rage” outburst delayed a flight. Cho allegedly hurled a cup of water at an ad agency official during a meeting last month. She later apologized, saying the outburst was sparked by her passion for commercials. Cho’s sister, Hyun-ah, achieved notoriety after delaying a flight at John F. Kennedy Airport over the way nuts were served.
6. Treasure found: Archaeologists on the German Baltic island of Ruegen have uncovered hundreds of 1,000-year-old silver coins, rings, pearls and bracelets that are linked to the era of the Danish King Harald Gormsson. The German news agency dpa reported Monday a single coin was first found by two amateur archaeologists, one of them a 13-year-old boy, in a field near the village of Schaprode in January. The state’s archaeology office then became involved and the entire treasure was recovered by experts. Archaeologists said some 100 silver coins are probably from the reign of Gormsson, better known as “Harry Bluetooth,” who lived in the 10th century. He was the king of what is now Denmark, northern Germany, southern Sweden and parts of Norway.